INDONESIADEVASTATION Indonesia was the most severely affected country. The west coast of the island of Sumatra, the closest inhabited area to the epicentre of the earthquake, was devastated. More than 70% of the inhabit- INTRODUCTION INDIA & INDIAN ISLANDS India's southeast coast, especially the state of Tamil Nadu, ants of some costal villages were reported to have died. In the worst affected areas, all the infrastructure was wiped out, leaving people without water, food or shelter. Over 130000 people were The earthquake and tsunami of 26th December 2004 was the world's was the worst affected area on its mainland. At least 140,000 said to have died. It is expected that many bodies will never be most devastating natural disaster in living memory. The death toll stood people, mostly from fishing families, were placed in relief cen- found. Heavy rains after the tsunami in Banda Aceh, on the west- in the hundreds of thousands. The majority of the countries surrounding tres after the disaster. In total, around 9000 people died ern trip of Sumatra, increased the risk of cholera and dysentery and the earthquake and those that were wiped out by the tsunami were (sources vary). India's islands, including Andaman and Nico- caused deaths among those who had initially survived the tsunami. LEDC's. They would call on international aid to help rebuild their areas bar were also affected by the tsunami. Salt water, which Country Deaths Injuries Missing Displaced that were slaughtered by the waves. The undersea megathrust earth- washed over the islands from the waves, contaminated many quake, which is what triggered the tsunami, occurred at 58 minutes sources of freshwater and destroyed large areas of arable Indonesia 130736 - 37063 500000 + passed 12 UTC on 26th December 2004, with an epicentre off the west land. Most of the islands' jetties were also destroyed. At least Sri Lanka 35,322 - - 516150 coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. 1300 people were said to have died, with another 5000 bod- India 12405 - 5640 647599 ies still missing. CAUSE Thailand 5395 8457 2817 7000 Tsunami wave striking Thailand SOMALIA Somalia 78 - - 5000 Somalia was the worst affected African state. The water de- Burma 61 45 200 3200 The disaster began when an earthquake occurred under the Indian stroyed over 1000 homes, smashed 2400 boats and contami- Ocean. This one was the most powerful for 40 years. The quake was Maldives 82 - 26 15000 + nated freshwater wells and reservoirs. 5000 people were dis- caused by the Indian plate being pushed under the Eurasian plate. This placed from their homes. Nearly 300 people died as a result This table displays the status of the countries people who were happened along a 1040km fault line known as a subduction zone. The of the tsunami, and many fishermen who were out at sea are majorly affected by the tsunami, whether they died, were injured, earthquake measured 8.9 on the Richter Scale, its focus was nearly unaccounted for. were missing or were displaced as a result of the tsunami. 10km under the Earth's surface, and its epicentre 256km South of Ban- da Aceh in Indonesia. MALDIVES The scale on the left just shows the sheer ferocity of 20 of the Maldives' 199 inhabited islands were destroyed. The the tsunami wave heights, compared to the average The earthquake made the level of the ocean floor rise suddenly. As the shallowness of the water limited the tsunami's destructive human being. In addition, although not mentioned sea above the earthquake regained its normal level, the tsunami waves power, but flooding was extensive, and about 12500 people specifically within each sub-country effects para- were created. Although people nearby were aware of the earthquake, were displaced from their homes. A sea wall protecting the graph, all of the countries hit by the tsunami wave they were not aware of the waves travelling towards them at 880km/h. Maldives' capital, Male, prevented half the city being de- suffered the same problems, such as electricity and In deep water, the distance between the crests of the waves was some- stroyed. Many luxury tourist resorts will remain closed forThe destruction in Thailand caused by the Tsunami gas cuts, lack of food and fresh water, and the com- times more than 480km and their height only a few metres from crest to months. The economy of the Maldives depends almost entire- munications were also restricted in all the countries. trough. ly on tourism. Many of the Maldives' islands were out of elec- tricity, food and water (Which goes for all the other countries INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE When the tsunami waves reached shallow water they grew in height as that the tsunami hit), and the sewage system was totally de- the bottoms of the waves were slowed by friction with the ground. The stroyed. The thing that made the impact of the tsunami on the tops of the waves kept travelling at a high speed. As a tsunami wave Maldives worse is the fact that the government were totally approached the shore, water was drawn back from the beach before the unable to send help to the small islands, and many of the is- It was impossible for the world's governments to appreciate the mountain of water surged up the beach and caused devastation. landers had to spend nights outside in the cold since so many immense scale of the natural disaster immediately after the tsuna- houses were destroyed by the wave. 80 people on the islands mi. However, due to huge media coverage, it soon became clear died as a result of the tsunami. This diagram represents that this was a natural disaster beyond the size of any seen in the the Indian plate submerg- THAILAND last 100 years. Over 5 million people across the Indian Ocean were ing under the Eurasian displayed by the tsunami and an enormous international aid effort The west coast of Thailand was severely hit, including outly- plate. This is what caused was required. In the UK, the government pledged large sums of ing islands and tourist resorts such as Phuket. Many tourists the Indian ocean earth- money and there was an appeal to the British Public. This raised were in the water that day travelling in speedboats. One mi- quake, which then trig- over £200 million and was coordinated by the Disasters Emergency A town in Sumatra a month after the Tsunami nute they would have been sunbathing and snorkelling, the gered the Tsunami. This Committee. A few days after the tsunami, aid from around the next they would be literally running for their lives up the shore. type of plate movement is world started to get through to the region. An international aid con- More than 5300 people died as a result of the boxing day tsu- called "converging plates" ference was held in Jakarta, on 6th January 2005. At this confer- nami. At least half of the bodies indentified in Thailand were and the plate boundary is ence world leaders promised to work together to rebuild the shat- foreigners from over 35 countries. a destructive plate bound- tered region around the Indian Ocean and to establish an early ary. SRI LANKA warning system to help guard against future disasters. More people died in Sri Lanka as a result of the tsunami than EFFECTS anywhere other than Indonesia. Southern and eastern coast- lines were the most severely affected. Homes, crops and fish- THE FUTURE ing boats were all destroyed. The number of homeless people It is going to take years for this region to recover, even now in 2009 As you can see from the diagram directly on the left, the quake and was put at between 800000 and 1 million. At least 35000 peo- it is still recovering. Some communities may never be rebuilt due to tsunami affected a lot of Countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, ple died, with thousands of more bodies missing. the huge numbers of people lost. Most of the relief and rebuilding Thailand, Bangladesh, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, So- MALAYSIA work will be funded by the governments of the affected countries. Map displaying the countries most affected malia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Obviously, some countries However, the challenge for the international community is to pro- were devastated more than others, hence why I am going to spilt each Although Malaysia lies close to the epicentre of the earth- vide long term aid to help these countries redevelop their econo- quake, much of its coastline was spared widespread devasta- BIBLIOGRAPHY country up which had the majority of disruption, and say what effect it mies and rebuild the infrastructure that was so violently washed had on the country, and why it transformed from a natural hazard, to a tion because it was shielded by Sumatra. However, scores of away by the tsunami. wide scale natural disaster, being recorded as the World's 2 nd deadli- people were swept from beaches near the northern island of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake est earthquake in history. Penang. 68 people died from the tsunami wave, with another Www.geo-world.org/tsunami 6 reported missing. Www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi.in_depth/world/2004/ Chris Cartwright - AS Geography Col 5 asia_quake_disaster/default.stm Unit 1.1 - Global Hazards - KVY - 27/10/2009